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POLITICS REGAINED 




Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.** 



POLITICS REGAINED 

BY 

RICHARD D. WARE 

WITH INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 
BY 

JOHN MILTON 



■4r 



AMHERST Publishing Company 

AMHERST, N. H. 

1920 



Copyright 1920 

by 

R. D. Ware 



©CU601638 



3 



5^^ 



NOV 12 1920 



INTRODUCTION 

"Know, therefore, when my season comes to sit 
On David's throne, it shall be like a tree 
Spreading and overshadowing all the earth, 
Or as a stone that shall to pieces dash 
All monarchies besides throughout the world, 
And of my kingdom there shall be no end- 
Means there shall be to this ; but what the means 
Is not for thee to know, nor me to tell." 

"Who ever, by consulting at thy shrine 
Returned the wiser or the more instruct 
To fly or follow what concerned him most 
And run not sooner to his fatal snare? 
For God hath justly given the nations up 
To thy delusions ; justly, since they fell 
Idolatrous." 



ULYSSES 

"To the winds they set 
Their corners when with blusters to confound." 



Now welcome, Brother, from thy pilgrimage 

Across the sea! 

Didst find it free. 

Or in its foaming rage 

Compelling tribute from thine innermost 

As on its surge thou tosst? 

Or didst thou soothe 

Its yeasty undulations 

As were they warring nations 

With Delphic phrase and make them smooth? 

What bringest thou within thy leathern scrip 

Back from thy trip 

To keep thy self-sought tryst 

Where God grinds at His mill 

All-patient and All-just? Didst fill 

Thy scrip with wholesome grist 

To give thy people of their staff 

Of life and nourishment, 

Or hast thou spent 

Their substance for but chaff? 

Or shall they find that thou hast pinned 

Their faith again to wind ? 

The gifts of Aeolus with all the craft 

Of sailoring Ulysses wrought in vain 

Could not prevail against the Gods to waft 

His puny ship back to its port again. 

So, tossing empty windbags overside 

And reefing veering sail to futile mast 

With valiant hearts their own strong arms they plied 

And came to long lost Ithaca at last. 



THE SHIP 

"Created hugest that swim the ocean-stream." 

Swift through black squalls and driving- snow- 
Surged the great ship of State 
The "Washington," 
Blind in the murk but speeding on 
Her course true to her loyalty that Fate 
Was kind her Captain at her bow. 
Then crackled loud the wireless 
And crafty words and veiled hypocracies 
Sped forth; threats that unless 
The Truth be gagged with lies 
Chaos would rule, and that the land 
Upon whose stern and rock-bound coast first stand 
For freedom in the new world hithersea 
By those brave seekers for the Truth and Liberty 
Had been maintained would stand in shame 
Before the world. 
Then did the great ship groan 
That from her decks Untruth had flown 
Abroad to be proclaimed, 
And sought to hurl herself upon the rocks 
That she remain unshamed 
Before such mocks 
Of her great name. 



REBIRTH 
"For Chaos heard his voice." 



Now has the world been born again ! 

Not from the womb of Space 

But from a fountain pen, 

And in the place 

Of Universal Law to save it from the brink 

Of Chaos shall it gravitate 

By virtue of a document of state 

Writ by the midwife's hand in turgid ink. 



ANACHARSIS 



"Thrones, Princedoms, Powers, Dominions I reduce." 



Just as old Anacharsis Clootz 
Shot off his own pet League of Nations, 
So now our Mr- Wilson shoots 
The same old stuff in his orations. 
An hundred years and more are gone 
Since rocket-like it rose on high 
When Anacharsis touched it off, 
Stick-like upon the earth to die. 
Yet seemingly, die it did not 
But got put into an asylum 
And now escaped seeks the old spot 
And newer listeners to beguile 'em. 
Sans vision, teeth, and everything 
That gives to strength of life its glow, 
With halting steps, from senile mind 
It prates of things which are not so. 
But though the listeners understand 
It's folly, they are kindly men, 
And listening wait to take its hand. 
Back to the Old Folks' Home again. 



THE LEAGUE 



"Oh argument blasphemous, false and proud." 



"He kept us out of war." 

Now that its thunders cease 

He sets his will as law 

And keeps the world from peace. 

With cart before his horse 

Fast hitched, on single track, 

He cannot make the course. 

He will not back. 

A League? So be it, when the job is done 

That makes France safe and Belgium's wrongs repaired ; 

Then let it be a league against the Hun, 

Not one to coddle him that he be spared. 

And set in company with honest men. 

That he may seek to cut their throats again. 



THE INTERPRETERS 



— "with grave 
Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed 
A pillar of state." 



With covenants and Leagues a-whirl within my head, 

Sonorous phrases circling through my mind, 

I sought my bed, 

Perchance some peace to find. 

I dreamed. 

And first it seemed 

I stood within a burial place 

Beneath great cypresses with rows on '•^ws 

Of marble monuments to those 

Who having served to keep 

The Law 

Now for a space 

Sought likewise rest in sleep. 

It might not be. 

"Oyez ! Oyez ! Oyez !" 

Proclaimed a voice 

And left no choice 

But listen to its words. Then came 

In tones melodious, lofty, the self-same 

Preamble ambulating on 

That I had sought to flee 

When bedward I had gone. 

Then as the Articles winged forth in their full flight 

Of phrase I seemed to hear the sound 

As of one in sore plight 

Beneath the ground. 

As though he groaned and turned 

Upon the grid whereon he burned. 

Then the sod broke 

And at my hand upsat 

Sir Edward Coke. 

"God's Blood, what's that !" 

He spoke. 

Then as the Voice intoned another Article profound 

There groaned another sleeper from the ground 



lo 



And William Blackstone sat up in his grave. 

Cried he, "Me Lud, The Councillor doth rave J" 

Stayed not the Voice upon its course 

But went from bad to worse, 

And as some fierce volcanic wrench 

Had wrought beneath the sod 

The mighty Eldon rose as to his bench 

And roared "My God !" 

So sat they listening till the Voice was spent- 

Then said the Chancellor, "if be it the intent 

That we do now discover what is meant 

By these fair words and phrases fine 

So that men may divine 

The workings of this instrument 

I say it is too much for me. 

Ned, William, do you both agree?" 

And nodding as the Gods so nodded the Big Three. 

Then said the Chancellor "Let this be the decree." 

And banging on his coffin with his fist, 

"With costs; the bill's dismissed!" 



II 



PETER 

"Here pilgrims roam, that strayed so far to seek 
In Golgotha him dead who lives in Heaven." 



Within a cave among the hills and rocks 

The holy Peter sat. 

Not he who was the Rock whereon was reared 

The mighty edifice of Rome ; 

The man of righteous wrath 

With sword in hand 

Who sought to save his Master from the end 

He sought 

That His will might be done ; 

He who went forth, the seeking found, 

Among the people of the earth 

To tell them of the words his ears had heard 

Straight from the Master's tongue 

In all their privity, 

But one who sat apart from all mankind, 

Blind to the earthly burdens borne, 

Deaf to all human speech, 

But seeing visions in the cavern gloom 

And hearing voices singing in his ears 

He deemed celestial. 

So was he obsessed. 

Lost to the living Truth those words had told, 

That dwelt he sole upon the Sepulchre 

Wherein He who had spoke those words 

Did He. 

This place lay in the power of the Infidels 

And must be saved 

Or all the world was lost ; 

And he who led to save it from the Saracens 

Would be a greater one in God's own eyes 

Than Gregory the Pope at Rome himself. 

So came he down from out the desert place 

And preached 

With all the pent up fire long suppressed 

That they who would their own salvation find 

Must follow him full faith 

Where voice and visions led. 



12 



The peoples heard, 

Inflamed, and gathered in a multitude, 

And leagued themselves, blind in the new taught faith, 

To set their eyes upon the Holy Sepulchre 

And see naught else between. 

Then fared they eastward forth 

With Peter in the lead, 

Knights clad in armor, bearing lance and sword, 

Men, women, old and young, unarmored save in faith, 

And little children singing in great companies 

As sought they Him who loved them more than all. 

These unprovisioned Peter led. 

Eyes blinded with the glory of his quest 

And of his own to be. 

First fell the children on the way 

To seek His side from utter weariness. 

Then those whose bodies failed 

As spirit flagged. 

Then those who naked stood before the darts 

Of the Hungarians. 

Then those who starved. 

Then those who fell too weak to rise again 

From out the bogs that sucked them down 

To die. 



^3 



THE LOBBYIST 



"He, leading swiftly rolled 

In tangles and made intricate seem straight 

To mischief swift." 



Master or minion of another's mind, 
The chooser by the chosen set 
At his right hand. 
The one 

Of all his hundred million fellow citizens 
Alone deemed fit 
To enter in the silences 
And watch the incubation 
Of the Newer Universe ; 
Unlearned, 

Swift argosies of Magi from the West 
Consigned to him on S- O. S. 
To prime him with the things he does not know, 
And yet proclaimed as wise 
Despite his written words. 
And thrust as peer 

Upon the gathered wnsdom of the heirs 
Of centuries 

That he the gamester self-proclaimed 
Of peanut politics 
May deal and shuffle in the game 
With Fate. 

Through him the Nation, dumb, 
Is held to speak 

In furtive whispers of the lobbyist. 
Through him the Nation, l^lind. 
Is held to grope 
Gumshoed and pussyfoot. 
Tiptoeing through the corridors of palaces- 
Through him, 
The biggest boss or bluff' 
In all its history. 

The Nations' will and purpose have become 
A joke. 



H 



THE BRETHREN 



"Attended with ten thousand saints 

He onward came; far off his coming shone. 

"And live in thee transplanted and from thee 
Receive new life." 



The volley ! muffled drums ! 

Taps ! 

And the silence of the ages comes. 

With sobs and sorrow pent 

And faces grim 

Stands fast his regiment, 

Eyes dim with love of him 

God-given in name and deed 

To lead 

In time of need. 

The drums ! 

Swift stands intent 

The regiment. 

Up comes his charger's crest. 

He neighs, as had he gazed 

Upon his master's shade. 

Then forward sways 

To sob of heart and throb of drum 

The regiment, whence it had come. 

North, south, east, west. 

To bear his word like flaming sword 

Throughout the land he loved the best. 

On shall it go 

Immortal, through the land, 

Throughout the world ; 

Its task that it unmask 

Hypocrisy and lay it low. 

And with his standard of the Right unfurled 

Fight for it to the death 

As fought to his last breath 

He who still leads it on 

To Victory won. 



15 



Once more the drums, 

No longer throbbing with the grief 

For the great chief 

They mourned, 

But as the tumuU of the ocean comes 

With rising overwhehning tide 

Of wrath 

Against the puny things endured and scorned 

Man builds across its path 

Now to be hurled aside. 

Unswathed, the banner of the regiment 

Gleams like the sign set in the sky 

God sent, 

Guidon of Truth and Right, 

As onward to the fight 

The ranks go marching by 

With one of lion heart and staunch as oak 

In lead 

Upon the gallant steed 

Who heard his voice alone 

Of all who spoke 

His hero gone. 

So the great mother of us all 

First heard these things. 

And brushing from her eyes the tears, 

Then saw. Death in his pall 

Fled on his grisly wings 

With all his fears 

From Life regained, 

And as the leader reined 

And leaped down from his seat 

To kneel in service at her feet 

Her sword unstained 

She raised, and with its flaming blade 

Gave him the accolade- 

"Rise up!" she said, 

"My knight and champion. 

Lead on !" 



i6 



LA PUCELLE BLESSEE 



"Great are thy virtues." 



France lies as that one fallen among thieves 

Beside the path 

As lay she when the nations came in righteous wrath 

And drove the thieves away. 

Still by her side they stay 

And each one grieves 

Within its heart for her grown weak 

From ravishment and wounds 

Each one as glorious as those from which redounds 

The glory of the One who saved mankind. 

And as the nations saw so shall they seek 

Those wounds to bind. 

Now comes the High Priest of the Pharisees. 

His heart the inner shrine 

Of righteousness of self. 

Upon his brow white shine 

His broad phylacteries 

Of holiness. Intent on place or pelf 

He hastens on his way 

To seek what he may find 

To make his own, 

Nor will he turn his face or stay 

Although he hears her groan 

But to her wounds wills that his eyes be blind. 



37 



TO FRANCE 

"For good unknown sure is not had, or, had 
And yet unknown, is as not had at all." 



Nay France, 'tis not America that speaks ! 

Not she that seeks 

To thrust a canting brotherhood 

With murderers upon the men who stood 

Against their might and lust ; 

Who said "they shall not pass !" 

And made them bite the dust. 

Lose not your trust, 

That trust so late deserved 

So hardly won 

Now war is done ! 

'Tis not America ! It is one man who speaks. 

One man, and he the same 

Who voiced the coward claim 

Of proud poltroonery as hers ; 

One in whose heart there stirs 

The fluid of a fish ; 

The one who voiced the wish 

That you come not victorious to peace ; 

The one who did not cease 

To prate and palter on for years 

Until his fears 

For his own self-advancement now allayed 

Turned into hopes for more, — 

But not before. 

So was your sister stayed. 

That is the voice you hear, 

The voice of one apart. 

Soon shall her own voice speak. 

She will not break 

Your heart! 



i8 



THE HIGH COMMAND 



"I commanded the Twenty-Sixth Division." 

Woodrow Wilson at Boston, February 1919. 

"And thou in military prowess next, 
Gabriel." 



Said Sargint Johnny Cassidy to Corp'ril Jimmy Shea 
"What in the love uv Hivv'n's this the paper has to say ! 
There ain't no sinse into it. The types must ha' got mixt. 
The Prisidint warn't in command o' the Ould Twenty- 
sixt'." 

"Who says he was," says Jimmy. 

"Himself," says Sargint John. 

"The hell he was," says Jimmy. 

"He's givin' youse the con." 

Said Sargint Johnny Cassidy to Corp'ril Jimmy Shea 
"'Twas Gin'ral Edwards on the ship when we sailed 

down the bay. 
And thin I seen him Over There a-workin' at H. Q. 
I never seen the Prisidint a-takin' a review." 

"Who says he did," says Jimmy. 

"Himself," says Sargint John. 

"Loike hell he did," says Jimmy 

"He's givin' youse the con." 

Said Sargint Johnny Cassidy to Corp'ril Jimmy Shea 
"They run the Twenty-sixt' out there in somethin' loike 

this way. 
'Twas Edwards passed the word to Cole, thin Logan to 

the byes. 
God help me, on the Prisidint I niver laid me oiyes." 

"Who says ye did," says Jimmy. 

"Himself," says Sargint John. 

"Loike hell ye did," says Jimmy, 

"He's givin' youse the con." 

Said Sargint Johnny Cassidy to Corp'ril Jimmy Shea 
"There's one damn thing I'm damn sure av, no matter 
what ye say. 



19 



I'm sure it vvarn't the Prisidint a-leadin' on ahead 
The toime I got meself me Hun and thin me junk o' 
lead." 

"Who says it was," says Jimmy. 

"Himself," says Sargint John. 

"Loike hell it was," says Jimmy. 

"He's givin' youse the con." 

Said Sargint Johnny Cassidy to Corp'ril Jimmy Shea 
"There's one thing I'll not understand until me dyin' day. 
How could the Prisidint be there across at Schipperay 
And him adjournin' politics three thousand miles away 1" 

"Who said he was," says Jimmy. 

"Himself," says Sargint John. 

"Loike hell he was," says Jimmy. 

"He's givin' youse the con." 



20 



THE KINGS 

"When he v/ho rules is worthiest, and excels 
Thein v/hom he governs." 



Where are the Kings of former days ! 

The rulers by the Grace of God ; 

The Caesars to whom it was held but meet 

To render what was theirs 

As common justice done 

By God's own Son : 

The Men on Horseback whose swift chargers trod 

The people underneath their feet 

The while the people chanted songs of praise ; 

Now will the people with aught but a clod 

Greet Kings by the Grace of God? 

Is He the power that upholds the rule 

Of looting, lustful murderers? Or of the tool 

Of half-taught ignorance that twists the Truth 

To lies upon the rack, 

Himself, self-seeking, impotent, but at his back 

A brutal mob ? Then where good sooth 

Is God 

That he sends not again 

The Kingly Kings of men ! 



21 



PROHIBITIA 

"The rule of not too much, by temperance taught." 



Thy vices reft from thee, 
Sweet New Democracy, 

Of them I sing. 
Thy out- and indoor sports ; 
Thy ancient rums and ports; 
At thy gilt framed resorts 

In vain we ring. 

Only the memories 
Of thy lost liberties 

May with us stay. 
No more the ponies prance ; 
Closed are thy games of chance ; 
No more the passing glance 

Makes bright the day. 

When comes upon the earth 
Of vices such a dearth. 

Death hath no sting. 
Wine may no longer flow ; 
Women may come and go ; 
Let every freeman know 

He still may sing! 



22 



THE LEAGUERS 



"Grey-headed men and grave, with warriors mixed 
Assemble, and harangues are heard." 

The tumuh and the shouting dies ; 

The Bakers and the Tafts depart ; 

We Hstened to their joyous cries 

But no new thing did they impart. 

What is it we are going to get ? 

We don't know yet. We don't know yet. 

Now fare they forth throughout the land 

To speak again as here they spoke, 

And soothe the people's loud demand 

That it may buy a pig in poke. 

What is it we are going to get ? 

We don't know yet. We don't know yet. 

Some still benighted put their trust 

In what their fathers wrought and planned 

And are not blinded by word dust 

But wait until they understand. 

From frantic scheme and foolish word 

Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord. 



23 



THE VOICE 

"for of whom such massacre 
Make they but of their brethren." 



Inspired by the thrilling Russian Voice 

Which calls to us to say what we desire ; 

To say in what if anything our choice 

Is not as theirs ; to what high aspirations higher 

Than had their spirit flown 

Would soar our own, — 

So did the Voice sound musical to him 

Like that of Cherubim, 

Him who hears but the voices of the air 

And shut his ears to that of his own land 

When it but asks that it may understand 

His ministry of things put in his care. 

This man then said that hand in hand 

We walked with them ; sat with them at the salt upon 

the board ; 
Their aspirations ours, ours theirs ; 
With theirs our spirit soared. 
And to set free the two from all their cares, 
That Brotherhood should be and war should cease 
Proclaimed his program of The Perfect Peace, 
The only one that satisfied his soul; 
And that it might lead to a lofty goal 
He saw in vision vibrant from the thrills 
That he might gain himself, made it no worse ; 
And no man might rehearse 
How pregnant was it of a myriad ills. 
Then by the might of valiant men 
Came Victory, but came not with it Peace. 
He bars the way. 

Now speaks the thrilling Voice again. 
No man can stay 
Nor will it cease. 
Now does he find it thrill 
Howling "Kill ! Kill !" 



24 



IN MEMORIAM 



"Shalt thou give law to God? Shalt thou dispute 
With Him the points of Liberty?" 



There were 14 peace points hanging on the wall. 
There were 14 peace points hanging on the wall. 
Take pitiless publicity down from the wall 
And there's thirteen peace points hanging on the wall. 

There were 13 peace points hanging on the wall. 
There were 13 peace points hanging on the wall. 
Freedom of the seas comes down from the wall 
And there's twelve little peace points hanging on the 
wall. 

There were 12 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There were 12 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Tariffs and duties come down off the wall 
And eleven little peace points are hanging on the wall. 

There's 11 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 1 1 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Armies and navies come down off the wall 
And there's ten little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There's 10 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 10 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Take the colonies down from the wall 
And there's nine little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There's 9 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 9 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Hang Mr. Trotzky high on the wall 
And there's eight little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There's 8 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 8 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
No one thinks of Belgium now at all 
And there's seven little peace points hanging on the wall. 



25 



There's 7 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 7 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
France takes her own back over the wall 
And there's six little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There's 6 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 6 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Italy gets what she wants, that's all. 
And there's five little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There's 5 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 5 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall 
And there's four little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There's 4 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 4 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Down from the Balkans came another squall 
And there's three little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There were 3 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There were 3 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Carve up Ttirkey, there's enough for all, 
And there's two little peace points hanging on the wall. 

There's 2 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
There's 2 little peace points hanging on the wall. 
Paderewski played in his home town hall 
And there's one little peace point hang-ing on the wall. 

There was i little peace point hanging on the wall. 
There was i little peace point hanging on the wall. 
Knox knocked the box and the sox and all. 
And there's no little peace points hanging on the wall. 



26 



THE IMMIGRANTS 



"Before the gates there sat 
On either side a formidable shape." 



Stood shivering on the Door-mat of Cokimbia 

Two cunning little Bolsheviks 

From far Fakeovia, 

Young Ivan Cutyourthroatovich, 

His little sister Alix Thengohangyourself, 

And pleading, sad-eyed, sought 

Admission 

To the hospitable door. 

The kind warm-hearted door man opened wide, 

But Uncle Sam 

Who saw them from the settin' room 

Stood up in his big boots 

And said 

"See here, you let those imps of Satan 

In 

And I'll jest let ye know 

I'll kick you 

Out 1" 



27 



CYCLE 
"Concourse in arms, fierce faces threatening war," 



Against the hordes from out the East stood fast 
The Knighthood of the West ; 
Withstood the savage blast 
And charged with lance in rest. 
Skyward the war-cry rings ! 
"Make safe the world for Kings !" 

Against the Kings the Peoples of the earth 
Foregathered for the fray, 
To try the issue of the greater worth 
Of ruling self or rule by such as they. 
Skyward the Peoples' battle-cry ! 
"We make the world safe for Democracy !" 

Against the hordes from out the East stand fast 
The Peoples of the West 
But bending in the blast 
Of Worst against the Best. 
Skyward the slogan shrieks ! 
"Make safe the world for Bolsheviks !" 

Against the Worst the Best throughout the earth 
Foregathered for the fray, 
To try the issue of the greater worth 
Of Righteousness or rule by such as they. 
Forward the legions trod ! 
"Make safe the world for God !" 



28 



LEAGUE OF NATIONS 



"and the law of faith 
working through love upon their hearts shall write." 



While Presidents and Premiers match minds 

With heads I win and tails you lose 

Behind closed doors and lowered blinds ; 

While still more pointless the world finds 

The Fourteen Points than even it had thought 

And mutters "what's the use ;" 

While the millenium remains unwrought 

By magic of their spell, and still not yet 

Not even half a league have they progressed 

Onward to that great League they all professed 

To be so keen about 

When talking through their high silk hats abroad 

That looks so different sitting 'round the board 

With all its inwards out ; 

While Peace alone is told to mind its business ; 

While Prophets taking counsel whirl in dizziness 

As whirling dervishes, anoint with perspiration, 

Proclaim from addlement God-given inspiration ; 

While waits the world to come into its own, 

Our little League of Nations here in town 

Goes on as it has done since its creation. 

First coming into town, last going out, 

There comes a Yankee's place. About 

An hundred rods beyond a Yorkshireman 

By birth, reborn American, 

Lives in an ancient house beneath the spread 

Of mighty elms that tower overhead. 

Their lands march side by side, and though a wall 

Of mossy stones sets off the bounds, yet stones will fall 

As though by hands unseen, and vagrant cows 

Stroll through enticing breach intent to browse 

On cabbages or corn, but not so far 

Has either neighbor girt himself for war 

And slain his neighbor and his neighbor's wife 

And put his screaming children to the knife 

For even such more warrantable cause 

Than potentates are wont to find for wars. 



29 



Not far from these two fair-haired \'ikings live, 

And in their shop as busy as a hive 

With hum of planer, lathe, and saw 

Turn out the sleds and wagons for 

Their neighbors on their farms. A son of France 

By way of Canadaw now plants 

His potat' in the field unfortified 

Against the thrifty German on whose side 

Of the low wall grow early peas 

And rows on rows of luscious strawberries. 

On up the road a swart Italian tends 

His herd of cows and every morning sends 

A bright platoon of milk cans to the train 

And fetches them at night to fill again. 

These are our Leaguers, neighbors each to each. 

They need no fading covenants to teach 

Their hearts wherein their greater interest 

And duty lies ; what is the best 

In the long run, and that to over-reach 

With guile or the high hand 

Is not to become blest 

In the ill-gotten thing or ill-done deed. 

Each comes to each in time of need 

In offered helpfulness. On call 

For common need and service all 

Respond fullhandedly, as when the lightning struck 

The schoolhouse last July. The old hand truck 

And chemical got on the job so quick 

They had it out before the flames could lick 

A shingle up. Another time a tough 

Cheap crowd of motor sports came through 

And stopped down at the store and thought they'd do 

The place up, but enough 

Good able-bodied Leaguers happened on the scene 

To throw them out and into their machine 

Although there was no covenant to treat 'em rough. 

These things and more they do, unboimd 

By covenant or pact. 

But for the common good as they have foinid 

The knowledge of it do they act 

As kindly helpful men the whole world round. 

Nor do they seek to justify their works 

By bleats of Brotherhood or their love for Turks. 



30 



THE COVENANT 

"The bold design 
Pleased highly those Infernal States." 

"To work in close design, by fraud or guile, 
What force effected not." 



When Man sets up his man-made laws in place 

Of those divinely made ; 

When scriveners on parchments set displayed 

Their manufactured terms in substitute for those the 

grace 
Of God has put within Man's heart 
From which he may depart 
A while but not stand lost and strayed 
Save in disgrace ; 
That which is out is out. 
That which is in is in. 
No more ; that sin 
May be defined within the bound 
Of its four corners, that which is not found 
Therein so standing virtuous. So if he bind 
Himself that he not steal 
Then may he find himself and feel 
Full free to burn and slay, and flout 
The minions of the moral law 
Come pounding at his door to tell him its intent 
Was likewise in the instrument, 
Not out of it, when for 

That it should stay out did his lawyer draw 
The covenant, that thought be free 
Of conscience and morality. 
So if a man sees fit 
To bind himself to stand 
And look on children slain, and say that it 
Is nothing for his hand to stay 
Until another speaks. 
This may he do with covenant and seal, 
And yet how will he feel when comes the day 
That he stands all alone and knows he cannot stay 
Against the mob 



31 



Then come to slay or rob 

Him of his child, the while those others prate 

Of rights within the instrument and seek 

For loopholes in the deed that they may break 

Its law and likewise stand 

While he goes down beneath a bloody hand. 

Yet had the document been left undrawn 

Not one of them who signed who had not gone. 

"Be noble, and the nobleness that lies in other men 

Sleeping but never dead, will rise in majesty 

To meet thine own." 

The false gods come when the true gods have flown. 



32 



ACHILLES 

"The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim 
In close recess and secret conclave sat." 



Upon the platform of the League 

Stood he who builded it, 

Against the world intrigue 

That sought to lay it low. 

With dazzling words he gilded it 

Till that which was and that which was not so 

Blurred in refulgent glow. 

Up bounded to his side as great Achilles leaped 

From out his chariot on the plain of Troy 

Another one, in lore and wisdom steeped 

As Diomed had been in Stygian flood 

Save at the heel. This one, with shouts of joy 

As at salvation Sunday shown, proclamed it good 

And started in to prove how black was white 

And white was black with all his weighty might. 

Old Democraticus himself was in the crowd. 

And looking up to him who stole his thunder 

Knew well that he would never be allowed 

Upon the platform, so he crawled in under. 

And with a hatchet trenchant as the one 

Which once laid low a famous cherry tree 

He smote the platform's props till all was done 

Save one last whack to save Democracy. 

He whacked. A flying nail like dart of steel 

Pierced the new convert in the heel. 

And as the platform fell fell he 

Upon the one who t(3yed with Destiny. 

So do the mighty fall from where they sit 

If speak they not the Truth, naught else, and all of it. 



33 



LOHENGRIN 

"Oh. prophet of glad tidings, finisher 
Of utmost hope." 



Sat tite within his Httel bote 
Upon ye Stream of Wordes 
Now comes ye Happy Warrior 
Drawn by two gentil birdes. 
Drawn by two gentil birdes, sirs, 
Drawn by two gentil birdes. 
Now comes ye Happy Wnrrior 
Drawn by two gentil birdes. 

"What is thy name," the Herald cried ; 

"Thy armes I do not know." 

" 'Twas Lohengrin before ye warre; 

Now I am hight Woodrow." 

Now he is hight Woodrow, sirs, etc. 

Then did he smite ye villayne sore 
Full straight on ye midriff 
And with a few well choosen wordes 
Despatched ye foul caitiff. 
Despatched ye foul caitiff, sirs, etc. 

Clad in his snow-whyte panoply 

Free from all rust of pryde 

He deigned to take fair Elsa 

To be his promised bride. 

To be his promised bride, sirs, etc. 

But 'ere the consummation 

Of their connubyal blis.^e 

He took her forehead in his hands 

And planted a chaste kiss. 

And planted a chaste kiss, sirs, etc. 

"My dear," he said in gentil tone, 

I prithee turne not pale. 

But I must hie to gay Paree 

To seek ye Holy Grail. 

To seek ve Holy Grail, sirs, etc. 



34 



And then he tore himself away 
And beat it for his shippe. 
Ye Httel bote was all too frail 
To stand ye ocean trippe. 
To stand ye ocean trippe, sirs, etc. 

And now by wireless he sends 
Kind messages to Elsa, 
And she, forsaken, trusting mayde, 
Believes all that he tells her. 
Believes all that he tells her, sirs, etc. 



35 



LAOCOON 

"thick swarming now 
With complicated monsters, head and tail." 



"Fear ye the Greeks when come they bearing gifts. 

That Horse which seeks admittance at our gates and Hfts 

Its crest on high above our battlements 

As would it spy upon us represents 

But one more trick Ulysses has devised 

That Troy may be surprised. 

Destroy this thing nor tempt the Fates 

By dragging it within our gates." 

So spoke the priest of the Far-darting One, 

Laocoon, 

In the full truth the God had sent 

Like light into his heart, 

And with his two sons went 

Into the shrine, apart 

From all the discord and the mutterings 

Truth brings. 

Then sought them there two serpents from the sea. 

Twin monsters of Untruth, and throwing fold on fold 

Around their limbs swift strangled them in agony 

That no more Truth be told. 

So let it be when Untruth men proclaim 

Within our walls ! Then let Apollo send 

Upon their lies his light 

And Pythons twain the rostrum to ascend 

To end the shame 

And crush them in their might. 



36 



THE CREELS 



"In show plebeian Angel militant 
Of lowest order." 



If ever once the Country gets the Truth, 

The whole of it 

And nothing but, 

With nothing shut 

Out from the light by those who minister to it ; 

If only once they gave 

It white in all its nakedness 

Unclothed in fakedness 

Instead of swathed in veils 

Of words and phrases fit for fairy tales, 

Then in good sooth 

'Twould seek to find 

Had it gone blind 

Or did its ministers but rave. 



37 



THE DRUMMER 



"Bold deed thou hast presumed." 



From the home office fared the drummer forth 

With sample case in hand. 

Yet samples bore he none 

Of the sound merchandise of worth 

His house put out and planned 

To send abroad now war was done 

To help rebuild the havoc of the Hun. 

That which he sought to sell in secret thought 

Was not for trunk or case, 

But in a brain distraught 

With dreams of power and place 

He carried schemes that could be bought 

For his own sole account 

So might he mount 

Though fell the credit of the iiousf- into disgrace. 

Came in expense accounts for dinners, wines, cigars, 

But still no business done. 

Long cabled messages of matching minds 

With other drummers sitting with closed blinds 

As drummers take their fun 

Up in their rooms or in the hotel bars. 

Then came a copy of a contract made, unauthorized.. 

And as the partners read with eyes surprised 

They saw beyond a doubt 

That he had sold them out. 



38 



THE SCOTCHMAN 



"and found arms 
Against such hellish mischief fit to oppose." 

A Scotchman once there was 

Who sat in an high place, 

Some said by God's good grace. 

So high he was he said above the laws 

He sat and flouted them, and claimed 

Prerogative that never had been named 

As his, and with a frowning brow 

Threatened the people's representatives 

Who dared to disallow 

His mandates at the peril of their lives. 

Then fell the hand of Fate upon his neck, 

And from the wreck 

Of broken oaths and covenants and wars 

He fled 

To save his head. 

'T was James of England. Who did you think it was ? 



39 



THE MEEK 

**Go whither fate and inclination strong 
Leads thee." 



Beyond four years we heard the awful roar 

From the hot throats of guns grown gruff 

From bellowing their wrath 

Without surcease. 

Now bids it fair to be four more 

Before the orators will have enough 

Of words and start upon the path 

To Peace 

From loss of breath 

In trying to talk war to death. 

To League or not to League ! 

So does the question lie 

As put before the mind. 

Wise stay-at-homes now find 

That men went forth to die 

With that high purpose sole within their hearts, 

And so each one imparts 

The truth to us without the least fatigue 

To his own soul, 

While those who fought and found the goal 

They sought and now are done with it 

Reply "Oh hell, get on with it !" 

So in two warring camps we split, 

The men who would get on with it 

And those whose little course were run 

If war and all its train were done 

And teaching, preaching, screeching, found no one 

To sit in wide-eyed marvel at their feet 

To hear them bleat. 

Why not provide that those the sheep-like ones 

Who seek their fate as sheep bell-wethers seek. 

The mulish ones who follow after mares 

And those whose burdened souls would shift their cares 



40 



To Councillors, Mikados, Woodrows, Kings, 

Content with little places in such suns 

Of Destiny themselves, well knowing that the meek 

Are the inheritors of all that brings 

Contentment on the earth— that those apply 

As mandatories for the loving tutelage 

Of those benighted ones beneath the burning sky 

Of Africa or where the South Seas rage 

And teach and preach and screech their heart's content 

Upon their heads, and their Hp-service yield 

To any League that deigns to lend its shield 

To hover them. 

Then as was meant 

By all our fathers' words and deeds. 

Their monuments and screeds 

As we their sons know well their worth, 

Let those remaining, feet upon the earth 

Our fathers' blood made free 

Maintain that freedom to preserve its destiny. 

So shall Peace be. 



41 



THE BIG FIVE 



"All things invite 
To peaceful counsels, and the settled state 
Of order." 



Five big- strong men stood straight up in their boOcS 

And smiled, each at the other one, in fellowship. 

And now they dared confess it. 

How express it ! 

"See here, I'll tell the world," said Sam, 

"If any son of a gun shoots 

His gat at one of us, or tries to get a grip 

On anything of his'n that ain't his, 

I'll jest make it my biz. 

And I don't give a damn 

Who 'tis!" 

What do you fellers say ? 

Will you help out 

Same way 

If some fine day 

Ye hear me shout? 

Will ye draw cards and play ? 

"Righto !" said John. 

Francois said "Bon!" 

And moved too much to speak 

Kissed Sam right on the cheek ! 

"Si !" cried Antonio ; 

The Samurai breathed "Bushido !" 

"And now suppose" said Sam, "one of us g^uys 

Gets kind of sore 

Agin' some other guy about somethin' or other. 

I got sore once on my own mother. 

I've been in fam'ly rows before. 

Now s'pose each feller tries 

To see where trouble lies 

And straighten the thing out ; 

There ain't a doubt 

All hands could fix it. 

Before he starts to mix it." 



42 



"Righto !" said John. 

Francois said "Bon !" 

And moved too much to speak 

Kissed Sam right on the cheek ! 

"Si !" cried Antonio. 

The Samurai breathed "Bushido !" 

"And now let's tell the world," said Sam, 

"Seein's we're under way. 

If any mean cuss sets 

His dog on any kid, or gets a-gettin' gay 

With helpless wimmin-folks and such 

And jest so much 

As puts a hand on 'em. 

By Heck ! 

We'll all come bilin' down right on his neck.'' 

"Righto !" said John. 

Francois said "Bon!" 

And moved too much to speak 

Kissed Sam right on the cheek ! 

"Si !" cried Antonio. 

The Samurai breathed "Bushido." 

"That's fine" said Sam. 

"We'll jest call it a day 

And go up to the League. 

The Sox are goin' to play." 



43 



NOAH 

"The one just man alive ; by his command 
Shall build a wondrous ark." 



Back in the Ark he cometh with his Covenant, 
High from the ridgepole its banner bright unfurled. 
Back to his job the President Perambulant 
Tucked in his pocket the job to run the world. 

Now but the price remains that he must pay for it ; 
Only a song we may no longer sing ; 
Only a flag to lower to make way for it ; 
Only some paper scraps upon the wind to fling. 

High in the Ark he chanteth loud his orison. 
Peers through a porthole and seeketh for a sign. 
And lo, a gull came winging from the horizon 
Fast in its greedy beak a sinker, hook, and line. 



44 



DELIVERANCE 



"With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout 
Confusion worse confounded." 



Now glory to the Lord of Hosts and glad Te Deums 
chant ! 

And glory to our champion, our Henry of Nahant! 

Let the Administration rage and all its minions rant, 

For our Navarre has knocked the tar out of the Cov- 
enant. 

And Washington, our Washington, that looked upon the 
fray 

Again let rapture light thine eyes that things went well 
that day. 

As thou wert constant in our ills, be constant in our joy, 

For cold and stiff and still lies that which would thy will 
destroy. 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! as Ivry won her freedom for fair 
France 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! for Henry and our deliverance ! 

Although our hearts were beating our courage was not 
damped ; 

We saw the army of the League — its votes all rubber- 
stamped. 

The mild men and the wild men, its Prophet's chosen 
pets, 

With Hitchcock's well-trained infantry and Underwood's 
cadets. 

Entrenched sat tight fierce Overman ; sat bone-dry Wil- 
liams tight, 

While pawed and pranced proud Pomerene all eager for 
the fight. 

And as we looked on them we thought of what our Col- 
onel said 

And seemed to hear his spirit's wings swift beating over- 
head. 

Then prayed we to our fathers whom perils could not 
daunt, 

To rise up from their graves and light with Henry of 
Nahant. 



45 



Now Henry conies to marshal us and point where we 

shall stand, 
His snow-white Panama rolled up like truncheon in his 

hand. 
He looked upon his comrades and his pride shone in his 

eye — 
He looked upon the Leaguejs and his glance was stern 

and high. 
Right graciously he smiled on us as rolled from seat to 

seat 
Across our front a deafening shout, "Go to it ; they're 

our meat !" 
"And if they seek to try more tricks with 'Politics ad- 
journed', 
For one can best stab in the back the while a back is 

turned. 
Press where ye see my truncheon wave amidst the ranks 

of war. 
And be your oriflamme today my snow-white Panama!" 

Hurrah ! the foes are moving ; hark to the mingled din 
Of muttered curses, grunts, and groans as they their 

votes put in. 
The fiery Ashurst leads the way into the fierce melee 
And goes down into nothingness before our Brandegee. 
Swanson, the League's own Lohengrin, then dashes 

forth alone 
And meets him from Missouri, the Man who Must be 

Shown. 
Loud sounds the crash of splintered lance, and toppled 

from his steed 
Down goes the gentle Lohengrin; unbroken stands *^he 

Reed ! 

Brave clansmen twain from Erin's Isle met in the deadly 
fray, 

Shillalaghs shattered at their blows but nothing them 
could stay. 

Until young David chanced to think of his old name- 
sake's trick 

That slew the mighty Philistine and let go with a brick. 



46 



Then as his forebear smote the rock and made its waters 

flow 
So did the vaHant Moses' mace the arid Jones lay low. 
"Now by the lips of those ye love, methinks we've got 

their goat ! 
Strike as good Union men should strike, and pile up 

every vote !" 

Now God be praised the day is ours- — Hitchcock cries 

"Compromise !" 
What were our Reservations then, to any but blind eyes ! 
Bold Burleson has slunk away ; Tumulty flies the field 
To tell the waiting Propheteer the pygmies would not 

yield. 
But being not too proud to fight had won what seemed 

to be 
The thing on which his heart was set, a T^eaceless Vic- 
tory. 
The ground was strewn with well-crossed t's and heaped 

with dotted i's 
While from the wounded Leaguers came thr «;otmd': of 

mournful cries. 
And then we thought of vengeance and all along our van 
"Remember now the Fourteen Points !" was passed from 

man to man. 
But out spoke gentle Henry : "Those men are not our 

foe ; 
Forgive ; they know not what they did ; Let's go and get 

Woodrow !" 
Oh was there ever such a Knight who would such mercy 

grant 
As he our valiant champion, our Henry of Nahant ! 

Ho ! maidens of Geneva ; Ha ! maids of gay Paree ! 

Weep, weep and rend your hair for those you never more 
shall see. 

Those gallants of the Conference who found time with 
their schemes 

For little dinners set for two and suppers at I\Iaxim's ; 

Those sages and those counsellors who only could un- 
bend 



47 



To pick up the dropped handkerchief of some new lady 

friend ; 
The Houses and the Bakers, the Lansings and the Creels, 
And all those little mannikins and all their little wheels. 
For the God who gave His Covenant in fire and in smoke 
Has sat in judgment on this Thing and said it should be 

broke. 
Then glory to the God of Hosts and glad Te Deums 

chant ! 
And glory to our Champion, our Henry of Nahant ! 



48 



REQUIEM 

"Twixt upper, netker and surrounding 
fires." 



Who killed the Treaty? 
"I" said Woodrow. 
"I, with my No ! 
I killed the Treaty." 

Who saw it die? 
"I did," said Hi, 
"Squashed like a fly. 
I saw it die." 

Who'll lay it oUt? 
"I will," said Lodge, 
"I will not dodge. 
I'll lay it out." 

Who'll send it roses? 
"I," said George Moses, 
"Nice prickly posies. 
I'll send it roses." 

Who'll toll the bell ? 
"i," said Bill Borah, 
"She'll be a roarer! 
I'll toll the bell." 

Who'll build the box? 
"I," said Phil Knox, 
"Something that locks. 
I'll build the box." 

Who'll give the oration? 
"I, Reed from Missouri ! 
Hell's bells and fury! 
I'll give the oration!" 



49 



Who'll dig- the grave? 
"We," said the people. 
"If we would save 
What the Lord gave 
We'll dig the grave." 




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